5 secrets to greater success on LinkedIn

Do you want greater success on LinkedIn?

1. Post a quality LinkedIn headshot
2. Don’t be absent — engage
3. Complete your LinkedIn profile
4. Write a captivating LinkedIn summary
5. Connect with others

There you have it. All easy tips but these are the 5 things that I find most people don’t do with their LinkedIn profiles but are the 5 secrets to greater success on LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn Headshot

You need that LinkedIn photo! Tips for the best photo:

• Go with a pro. Yes, I know, you don’t want to spend the money but if a good photo means you could land a job that pays $40,000, $60,000, $80,000, or 6 figures, it is worth the investment.
• Not the glamor shot. Your LinkedIn photo should look like you would look if you were interviewed tomorrow. Look professional but not like someone other than you.
• Experts say it is all about the eyes. Be engaged.
• Lighting. I look at headshots on LinkedIn all the time, some are too dark, some are too yellow, some make the person look green, and then the washed out photos. Use natural lighting and just enough light to make you the subject of the photo.

Engage on LinkedIn

You are trying to build your LinkedIn community so share updates, write content if you enjoy writing, comment on other people’s status updates, read and respond to the LinkedIn updates it shares with you. If someone got a new job, send a note. If someone has a birthday, wish them happy birthday.

Complete your LinkedIn Profile

I work with many clients who are already on LinkedIn, but they have only listed the who, what, where, and when parts but there are no details and no stories. Achieve greater success on LinkedIn by filling out the jobs you have had with engaging stories or bullets of what you have done. Use the keywords in your narrative that will connect with the types of roles you are interested in filling.

Write a Captivating LinkedIn Summary

Don’t miss the opportunity to use the LinkedIn summary area. Change it up now and then after you have completed it with new keywords or new strategies. Your summary style is up to you. Perhaps you would like to write the story style, which tells the reason you are following your current career path or maybe what built your character. One young client speaks of how his training in whitewater sports has made him love the outdoor industry, positioned him as a product spokesperson, and taught him how to set goals and conquer them. Or you may want to lead with a quote or quotes that speak to your strengths and then expand on what you value.

Whatever you do, personalize the summary and make it authentic. Don’t skip this important section to gain greater success on LinkedIn.

Connect with others

For some people, this is incredibly hard. They can have a professionally-written profile but when it comes to adding connections, they struggle. Fear of rejection perhaps. My view of connections on LinkedIn is changing. While I don’t believe you need to be integrally involved with everyone you connect with on LinkedIn, you should have a reason for the connection. I am assessing my LinkedIn connections more carefully these days to be sure I have a reason to connect and a reason to stay connected. Piling up numbers for the sake of numbers is not the way LinkedIn works.

However, if you watch the people LinkedIn suggests to you, you will find people that you know. Connect with those and stay engaged.

Nothing is snap, crackle, pop in the job search process but if you treat it like a project and try to do your best, you will be rewarded.